Recipes, tips, and gear to help you beat the heat or survive the cold during your pregame partyby Michael Y. Park

W
hen the temperature climbs to triple digits, tailgating becomes about keeping cool, and that means storing your food and drinks on ice and protecting yourself from the sun. These five items will help you accomplish both.

Cooler

A good cooler is essential for hot-weather tailgating. The Coleman 100-quart Xtreme 5 Cooler ($144.99) is big but easy to transport, thanks to built-in wheels. It also keeps ice solid for up to five days.

If you have less space or a smaller budget, consider getting two or more of Coleman's 33-Quart Party Stackers ($24.99), which are stackable and come in different colors so you won't mix up your meat ice with your drink ice.

Camping Stove

The propane- or butane-fired Brunton Profile Two-Burner Range ($122.45) saves space, puts out a total of 24,000 BTUs, and is sturdily built enough to heat up big pots. Better yet for hot-weather tailgating, it's relatively quick to heat up: You don't have to spend a lot of time under the sun waiting for your charcoal to ash over or your stove to heat up.

Shade Canopy

Perhaps the most important hot-weather grilling item of all is something to shield you overhead. REI sells a parking-space-size (10-by-10-foot) Aluminum Rapid Shelter ($219) that will keep the sun off everyone's back and help prevent sunburn and much more serious heat-related health issues. A canopy also provides a shady place to set up your food table and your coolers of ice, drinks, and raw food.

Neck Cooler

As the master of the grill, you'll be stuck between the grates and the sun for a good portion of the day. Wear a water-soaked cooling neckerchief like Kafka's Kool Tie ($10) and you'll keep a little bit cooler for hours.

Ice Packs

They're not really ice, but these plastic packs of blue chemical gel ($2.79) get colder than regular ice, stay cold longer, and don't make a watery mess when they start to warm up. The Rubbermaid Blue Ice Weekender is reusable and sturdy, and it won't leak or pick up off smells.